A Man of Honor.

Chapter 34: Date Night.

"There are no tough guys in this life, all the so-called tough guys are in the cemetery. Be a nice guy, a respectful guy." ~ Sonny Franzese.

I examined my reflection in the mirror as I fumbled with my bowtie. I was accustomed to wearing casual suits but tonight was specifically a tuxedo kind of night. The rest of the week had passed relatively uneventfully with no one the wiser about Blake having kidnapped me and forcing me into a meeting with Ozpin.

I had given him the courtesy of one report telling him very little about what he desired. I explained that Roman had moved away from dust and we were now more focused on weapons. The remaining dust heists were being performed by my crew and I was using the heists just as a way to take advantage of the higher dust prices and taper things off to avoid suspicion for the family. With the intel Lil Miss provided still solid it would have been a waste not to grab the dust when we could. Naturally he wasn't too interested in all of those details and I gave him a half hearted promise to get him favorable answers.

I was determined to only tell him anything of importance when I was sure I had everything he needed to agree to let me back. I couldn't trust that he was going to honor our agreement so I decided when I did find out what he wanted I'd give him an ultimatum. Not that I trusted it'd be enough, even telling him what Roman had directly told me about the dust wasn't good enough for him. I wondered if he really wanted to learn the truth or if he'd just keep me going until I was dead or I was able to tell him what he wanted. But whatever the case I wasn't going to give him a chance to piece things together and leave me high and dry.

The door opened up behind me and I turned to see Neo stepping in wearing a fetching black cocktail dress trimmed with red, it accented her shapely legs and petite shoulders showing her neckline and a single string of white pearls opposed to the multitude of beaded black pearls she wore with her usual attire. Her hands were covered with black velvet gloves that went up to her elbows and her hair was done up with a long silver pin holding it all together. I figured that the pin was just as much a weapon for her as it was a fashion statement.

"You know no one is going to be watching the ballet if you're dressed like that," I said to her looking her up and down appreciatively and giving her a pleased grin and low whistle.

She smirked confidently and cocked a hit to pose for me. "Flattery - will - get - you - everywhere," she said to me, stepping forward to examine me in my tux. "Are - you - ready - to - go?" She asked me.

"Just a minute," I told her, turning back to the mirror. "I'm not really familiar with bowties so I've been spending the last fifteen minutes trying to get it right."

She stepped forward silently and took the tie in her hands to tie it with deft velvet covered fingers. For her it was easy to tie and when I looked in the mirror I only needed to make a slight adjustment as she draped herself over me. We looked like quite a pair in the mirror together.

"You - look - quite - dashing," she told me in the reflection with a glint in her eyes.

I chuckled, "Dashing enough to be your arm candy for the night?" I asked her.

She nodded to me and hooked my arm with hers to move out and down the stairs into my club.

A part of me wanted to think of this as a normal date. As if we were a real couple going out together instead of a couple of friends with benefits spending time together with some fooling around at the end of the night. Though I suppose it was a step up from the two of us just screwing around when we fancied it.

We went downstairs to the Moonstone for some dinner before going to the ballet. We sat at Luca's booth with a nice bottle of wine and some stuffed mushroom appetizers while we waited for our entrees to arrive.